Hi All, I will be travelling back to the US in a few days.. I had a small(ish) coin collection from 15 years back in India. I think I have around 600 coins from 60 different countries.. and none of these are antique coins (atleast I don't think so) .. I wanted to know: a) if I will face any issues at the US customs. b) What should I declare in the US customs forms ? Should I declare anything. Any help / advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Welcome to CT, knopflernovice ! Cool forum. I'm no expert on the whole customs thing, but I do know two things : Honesty is the best policy Dollar value might be a key issue in your case. Your country of origin may also be an issue. Talk to a travel agent or the foreign affairs folks where you're coming from. Have a great trip !
Hi 900fine .. Thanks for the prompt reply. I don't know the total value of the coins. I intend to keep the coins with myself in the US - no intention of sale. Hope all is well in Austin, TX. Hook'em horns !
Here are the only restrictions I could find. Looks like you'll be ok: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/prohibited_restricted.xml#Gold http://digitalhn.blogspot.com/2007/07/only-two-days-left-for-bringing-cypriot.html http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/money.xml Guy~
Oh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h yeah. Got K-State in Da House this weekend. Ricky B gonna there. Makin' some noise !
thanks coleguy. Read through the links you sent. One of the links was for US citizens - but I guess it should be applicable to non-citizens as well. Is there a US Customs number I can call and confirm beforehand ?
Check with a US Embassy or Consulate in your country for any information you need about traveling here.
Actually what you might be more concern of is the customs in India - I heard it's a lot severe there. Do they actually allow you to bring such collection out of the country.
Don't admit to bringing in any 1933 Double Eagles. Hontonai had the best advice, though. Contact your local American embassy/consulate. If they can't tell you, they'll be able to put you in touch with someone who can.
currency notes ? thanks to all for the replies thus far. Cool forum ! I think I will also get along my collection of currency notes .. hoping the same rules apply ?
Absolutely the smartest thing to do. I would check out the embassy in India first. There just has to be some type of rules governing such things. We here have many coin shows with coins and dealers from all over the world. How do they get thier coins here for sale? The same rules may apply with a coin collection. Best to play safe. You wouldn't want them conficated due to not checking.
I wouldn't take anything for granted in light of the homeland security regulations. Check out everything with both the local and US authorities before you do anything and try to obtain some sort of documentation that says it's okay to bring the coins. Life is a lot more complicated now and it is possible for you to lose the coins to the authorities.
Too bad there are so many otherwise you could just use the mail and send a few to every relative, friend, neighbor and even some of us. Lots of postage but sure would be fun. Send me some. I wouldn't return them to you but they would be safe here in the USA.
in USA now .. didn't make sense calling the US embassy in India - they don't deal with customs issues - which is what I was worried about - I did not call the US customs.. decided to just come with the coin and notes collection. I did not declare anything on the customs form as I did not think the total was worth more than $10,000. My baggage was not checked, so no issues. Thanks to all for the information and to Coleguy for quoting exact texts for the CBP law.
